Chapter 13

Some nights I don't sleep well. I had no idea how uncomfortable I'd be. I crave weird things to eat, and I walk funny. Grams would have been full of advice; it's times like this that I miss her most.

Demarco's been a sweetheart, though. He's very solicitous. He does all the cooking and cleaning so I can get lots of rest and focus on painting while I can. I may not know much about babies, but I do know that in a short while, I won't have time to get any work done. He's also been working like a dog painting and wallpapering and buying baby furniture and toys. Every day he comes home with something new. He's like a little boy at Christmas. The upstairs is still partly unfinished, but we got the nursery done just in time.

While my lover does my chores as well as his, I slip into a hot bubble bath and stay there until all the bubbles are gone. It's a precious retreat. While the bath soaks away my aches and stress, the daydreams have their way with me.

It's hard to believe that I was once a lost, lonely little girl who cried herself to sleep in a sleeping bag in an open field, with no family, no friends, and no hope, and now, well now look at me. Sometimes I remember that lonely little waif like it was yesterday, and sometimes it seems like something that happened to another person in another world.



Now, my life is so full of joy, so full of love, that it can't be contained even by two people. It's grown and grown until it must find the only possible outlet. The ultimate act of love. The creation of new life.

Now I sleep in my own bed, in my own gorgeous home, next to the man I love more than life, exhausted but happy, and I've never felt so safe and warm and loved.

Why do babies always come at 4:00 in the morning?



After all my fretting, it turned out to be easy. And suddenly there she was. A sweet scented, warm little bundle in my arms, with fat cheeks and her mother's eyes. A living, breathing overflowing of our love, half him and half me. Our Amelia. 

We can hardly keep our hands off her.

A good night's sleep is hard to come by these days, so we grab at it when we get a chance.



Michael was the first of Amelia's "aunts" and "uncles" to visit. Right away he jumped in and started playing with her and carrying her around, watching TV with her in his arms. Menuchah and Morty were hot on his heels, though.

And you know what? They only had eyes for each other. Don't tell ME I'm not a matchmaker! I'm so happy I could cry. In fact, I did. Demarco says it's hormones. What does he know?

Love is in the air, no doubt about it.